The Whole Story (for anyone who feels like reading it)

Great Story - rollercoaster for sure.

Nice Buck! Congrats to you and your buddy!

 

Good read and a great year!!!!

Thanks for sharing

 

Good read. I bow before the king.

 

Great read! Thanks for sharing that with us. Hunting trully takes us through many peaks and valleys both literally and emotionally but your account of the rollercoaster of a season that you've experienced so far depicted it perfectly. I too have lost a big deer and had buddy's shoot great deer out of my stands but never on back to back days. But you know looking back at it all, I wouldn't change anything as I'm sure you wouldn't (other than finding the deer anyway). It's what teaches us and makes us better at what we do. Great buck and congratulations on overcoming trully depressing conditions with a successful outcome.

 

Way to come back from so much disappointment!! That is what real Kings do!! Congrats on a great buck!!!

 

great character and way to stick with it!

 

You may be the most generous person. I probably would have had to go buy a new cell phone after receiving the call about the ghost. Way to recover and get it done.

 

Bud, that is an awesome story. I always have said that I'd rather have a buddy shoot my buck than a stranger. Least you know who got him.

Glad you didn't give up and kept after em. Its not very often a guy gets onto 3 bucks of that caliber in one season.

 

Fran, This is amazing.
I had an stud 8 i called ghost. It was on a game farm property, no fences, fair chase, surrounded by public land. 3 years he haunted me, I had to get the managers permission to shoot a buck, and it seemed like every time I did, he wouldnt show, and would be around without fail when i was doe only. A memeber said they shot a stud 8, and i was sick to my stomach, literally losing sleep for days. we tracked it and never found it. Later in teh season i shot a 125" 8 that had a wound in its back. figured it was the deer we were looking for, and not my big boy. that was 2 years ago. Flashforward to 2 weeks ago, My dad told me they had found him right after i killed mine. A broad head stuck in his opposite shoulder, deep in a swamp, almost 1/8 mile away from where he was shot. 168" 9 point, 16" g2s 9" brows. All the times i had that buck at 15 yards, and i know i will never see another typical whitetail that perfect.
Congrats to you for bouncing back, and making the redemption huge, I am still trying
Amazing story bro.

 

Great read.. way to keep your head high after the miss and put down a great buck! Congrats again.

 

Awesome dude. Congrats on a great buck!

 

Wow, what a great story!! I laughed out loud in my office when i read "I threw up in my mouth". That is such a great line to exemplify the seriously extreme emotions we get with deer. Reading it as a third party is just awesome...but being there in the first person must've sucked.

I can't explain the abject sickness and consuming depression I felt when I shot at a big buck and tracked it for 6 hours and couldn't find it. I can't imagine in those same days finding out that someone else shot the other big buck I was after...I think I would've thrown up my mouth too!

Great read, great hunting and great photos...thanks for sharing

 

Nice work Fran. Imagine what that PA buck is going to look like when you stick him next year. The wound may even get him all junked up when he grows the new headgear!

 

Great story Fran, and a true example of what hunting truly is. A rollercoaster ride of emotions and excitement. We've all been there and I for one am glad to see you on the winning side of the story.

 

I couldn't have said it any better then this... so I won't !! What he said !!

Tim

 

Word to this!

Long time no talk Fran, haven't been around much...but I like coming back and seeing threads like this! Congrats bro.

Way to put in the work [For your friend too ]